Page 21 - BENTLEY SYSTEMS PR REPORT - March 2025

3/18/25, 1:06 PM Interview: Challenges & Opportunities in Smart, Sustainable Cities
infrastructure, AEC industry, digital twins and AI, and real-world

case studies

The idea of smart and sustainable cities is exciting, but they

come with their own set of challenges, can you elaborate on

these challenges?

Climate change has become one of the biggest challenges faced by

cities across the world. Natural disasters such as the wildfires in LA,

flash floods in Dubai, and heat waves in Kuwait, are recent

examples of how adversely climate change is impacting our

physical environment. These events are now becoming more

common, highlighting the need for enhanced climate adaptation and

resilience in urban development. In this context, resilience refers to

the capacity of cities, organizations and businesses to not only

survive but also to adapt and develop in the face of key challenges

that might come their way.

In response to these issues, the United Arab Emirates invested

USD 8 billion to increase the city’s drainage capacity by 700 percent

and prepare their systems for similar challenges in the future.

Similar trends that are emerging in urban development globally

include optimizing and reshaping urban spaces, addressing aging

infrastructure, improving security and resilience, and increasing

transparency and collaboration. These trends highlight the growing

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